Flood Duty

I’ve been on flood duty the past two weeks, hence the lack of Internet presence.  I’ve not much to share about the experience, but I do have a bit of advice to anyone with an ear to listen:

“Don’t build your home or livelihood next to a river.”

That is all.  Carry on.

My Wife: The Comedienne

Life’s been a little hairy with the new baby and life issues (read, I’ve been a grump), so my beloved greeted me with a happy pick-me-up yesterday when I got home.  Just before school let out a couple weeks ago, my middle son made a blue star with a picture of his smiling face on it.  My wife replaced the picture of said son with a Joel Osteen picture…million dollar smile and all.  Above it she taped a hand-written “Somebody’s Getting A Blessing.”  I laughed so hard my sides hurt and then playfully scolded her for profraning our house with a picture of the man whose name is never to be spoken.

 

Ahhhhh, Great…I Need Glasses

I’ve been getting a lot of headaches lately and decided to have my eyes checked. I don’t know that the level of reduced vision is all the drastic, but it sort of takes you aback when the optometrist looks at you thoughtfully and mutters, “you’re just too young for bifocals.”

No kidding, doc!

Long story short, I’m getting reading glasses AND distance glasses.  My oldest son thinks it’s pretty cool.  “Just imagine, dad, (youngest son) will never know you without glasses!”  I can barely contain my excitement.

Observation From Today’s Gospel Reading

I follow the LSB daily lectionary, and had one of those “A-HA!” moments as I was reading this evening.  In John 8: 51-52, Jesus and the Jews are engaged in a dialog that jives well with a theme I’ve been reading in N.T. Wright’s The Resurrection of the Son of God.  It’s Wright’s contention that there was very little recognition of an afterlife in Jewish theology.  For the Jews, hope was tied entirely to temporal things; those things being tied specifically to their identity as a chosen people.  This seems to play out when Jesus states, “if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”  How do the Jews respond?  “Now we know that you are demon possessed!  Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your words, he will never taste death.”  It makes perfect sense now.  Whereas it’s tempting to first assume that they’re spiritual dolts (which we all are), it’s more likely that they’re confused because Jesus’ statement didn’t enter into their presumptions.  They didn’t expect any sort of an afterlife.  This was it for the Jews.  They wanted a Messiah who would restore Israel because they had very little to no conception of a life after death.

Examples like this make me think that even as most of Scripture is straightforward, it always helps to get in the skin of a first century Jew and/or Gentile.  What were their assumptions about faith in general, and why was the gospel such a radical thing?  If Wright is right (rimshot please), in this case it’s because Jesus is claiming a radical concept…an afterlife.

Hmmmmmm…

I’m just throwin’ this out there…Was Rome’s aliens announcement completely coincidental or did they catch wind of this?

If this turns out to be strobe-lights and martian masks, my street cred’s going to take an awful hit for even posing the question.  In fact, forget I even posted this (unless I’m right).

A New Issues Etc.

It’s official, folks.  Issues, Etc. is back.  Well, Todd Wilken and Jeff Schwarz are back.  The name of the program I’m not sure of.  Here’s a link to the webpage that makes it official.  Make sure you have your volume on, as Pastor Wilken delivers the news via audio.

Kid Quote

Tonight from the oldest son:  “I can never remember dad…is it Mississippi or Mistersippi?”

Exciting New Prayer Book

Pastor McCain has announced the October release of Treasury Of Daily Prayer.  Following is a brief description of the prayer book:

Concordia’s Treasury of Daily Prayer is a comprehensive uniquely Lutheran resource for daily devotions, unlike anything else before, or presently available, bringing together under one cover Scripture readings, prayers, psalmody, hymnody, and devotional readings from the church fathers. The chief benefit of this resource is that everything for daily prayer and meditation on God’s Word will be available in a single book, with all the “propers” for each day provided together in the same place in the book…Treasury of Daily Prayer is designed to be equally useful for individuals, families, and small groups with the inclusion of the four brief orders of Daily Prayer for Families and Individuals. In addition, for those who choose to use them, the order of Matins, Vespers and Compline are included in the center of the volume.

I’m very excited about the release of this resource.  The only frustrating thing is that I have to wait until October!

Baptized Into Christ

Today at 1:20 p.m. my youngest son was snatched from the grips of Satan and was baptized into Christ.  Thanks be to God for the forgiveness of sins and for the new life He has graciously bestowed through the gift of the Holy Spirit!

Authority, Scriptures, And Remaining Lutheran

I became Lutheran by studying the Scriptures and I am remaining Lutheran, even as I have at times been tempted to explore elsewhere.  There were a number of factors that led to my looking toward other pastures, but chief among them was concern that I don’t have the capacity to understand the Scriptures.  “Maybe I don’t understand what’s written in purity because I’m not reading through ‘the lens of the church,’” I would think to myself.  Maybe I have been misreading the church fathers.  Maybe this, maybe that…I became more and more uneasy with my answers because I lost a great deal of confidence in my ability to rightly discern God’s word.

Lately there have been a number of things that bring me back to the Scriptures or, more specifically, the Scriptures as Lutherans understand them.  First, I’ve seen the brokenness in all communions.  Very often I’ve been tormented with questions of authority.  “Who gets to decide what’s right?” has echoed through the chambers of my brain more often than I would like to admit, but my question failed to take into account a simple reality.  No communion is without its warts now, or at any other point in history.  If the leader of “The Church” is a Montanist and my break-off heretical group is Christologically orthodox, do I remain with the “one pure church” or do I go where an orthodox Christology is offered?  It’s simple to me.  I go wherever Christ is offered in purity.  I care little about temporal authorities if those authorities cause me to misunderstand, or take my eyes off of Christ.

Second, Christ is the key to all the faith.  I would readily admit that people in all communions affirm such a view, but I’ve found none who preach it and teach it in nearly as robust a manner as the Lutheran Church. Very simply, the Lutheran view of justification has brought the Scriptures to life!  When I finally grasped what it means to be utterly dependent upon Christ for salvation, I began to thirst for the Word (my Bible has the highlights and pen notations to prove it!).  It isn’t a matter of intellectual curiosity.  It is instead a matter of finding Christ in every syllable of every page of the Scriptures and drawing from His presence in the same manner that a plant feeds on soil, rain, and sun.

I know full well that there are people who could run circles around any argument I might be able to make for the Lutheran church.  That’s fine.  What I know is this…Christ is my authority, and where I have most clearly found life in Christ is through reading the Scriptures as Lutherans read the Scriptures and practicing as historically minded Lutherans practice.  I am remaining Lutheran because Christ reigns supreme at the heart of every sermon, every prayer, and every exhortation.  What more do I need?